Health and Healing

partial oral versus intravenous antibiotic treatment of endocarditis

patients with infective endocarditis on the left side of the heart are typically treated with intravenous antibiotic agents for up to 6 weeks. whether a shift from intravenous to oral antibiotics once the patient is in stable condition would result in efficacy and safety similar to those with continued intravenous treatment is unknown.

a recent study from denmark, published in the new england journal of medicine, suggested that oral antibiotics are an acceptable alternative.

many folks on social media were saying this is “practice changing.” i think they are probably right, but it would be good to see this study confirmed in another setting.